NATIONAL SERVICEMEN (Injuries and suicides)

Mr J.B. Jeyaretnam asked the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence if he will say (a) how many of the 102 national servicemen who suffered injuries whilst under training in 1985 suffered them as a result of being compelled to continue with the exercises after they had complained that they were unable to continue; (b) how many such cases have come to light so far this year; and (c) how many cases of suicide were there in the army in 1985 and so far this year.

The Minister of State for Defence (BG Lee Hsien Loong) (for the Minister for Defence): Mr Speaker, Sir, I am answering on behalf of my Minister.

In 1985, 102 servicemen suffered injuries in training which led to varying degrees of permanent disability. There is no report that any of them have been compelled to continue with their training despite their being unable to do so. So far this year, there has also been no such case reported of any national serviceman suffering injuries resulting in permanent disability as a result of such compulsion.

Mindef does not condone ill-treatment of servicemen. If any Member of Parliament is aware of any ill-treatment case, I would urge him to inform Mindef about it as soon as possible, giving details of the case, so that Mindef can trace and investigate it promptly. If the Member for Anson wishes to seek further clarification on a specific case, he should table a question giving the particulars of the serviceman involved so that a proper answer can be given based on the facts of the case.

Coming to suicides, there were six cases of suicide in the SAF in 1985. None of them were found to be service related. So far, there have been three cases of suicide in the Armed Forces this year. Two of them were not service related while the reasons for the third case have not yet been established as investigations are still in progress. Members will, of course, be aware that in suicide cases, in addition to Mindef's own investigations, Coroner's inquiries are also conducted.

Mr Jeyaretnam: Would the Minister of State be able to tell us a little bit about why or how they came to suffer these injuries whilst under training?

BG Lee Hsien Loong: Mr Speaker, Sir, these are training related injuries. Soldiers fall down, soldiers break bones, soldiers sometimes suffer heat exhaustion, soldiers meet all kinds of mishaps despite all the precautions which are taken in the process of giving them realistic and tough training.